I say Taylor Swift. Musician, songwriter, and icon? Seriously?? How many of those have we had over the past three decades?
To quote a line from a song by another person who was hailed as a musician and icon, “She works hard for the money”.
That’s what she’s all about. No more, no less.
-“BB”-
Our votes this round (Bicycle_Bill missed the noon deadline, sorry, so I didn’t count his):
José Andrés: Humanitarian, chef - 3 votes
Craig Ferguson: Polymath, director-writer, comedian - 2 votes
Jim Gaffigan: Comedian, author, commentator - 7 votes
Mitt Romney: Senator, impeachment juror - 1 vote
Bruce Springsteen: Singer, songwriter, activist - 1 vote
Janet Yellen: Economist, Treasury secretary - 1 vote
Jim Gaffigan, a funny guy but not a Doper pick for greatest living American, is first out.
Our remaining nominees:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Athlete, writer, activist
Buzz Aldrin: Second on Moon
José Andrés: Humanitarian, chef
Joe Biden: President, uniter, overcomer
Simon Biles: GOAT gymnast
Judy Blume: Children’s literature icon
Warren Buffett: Level-headed billionaire
Bob Dylan: Poet of generation
Anthony Fauci: Physician, immunologist, scientist
Craig Ferguson: Polymath, director-writer, comedian
Bill Gates: Futurist, philanthropist, billionaire
Amanda Gorman: Poet, activist, prodigy
Jesse Jackson: Civil rights leader
Magic Johnson: Superstar, survivor, inspiration
Mark Kelly: Senator, astronaut, aviator
Stephen King: Great American writer
Spike Lee: Filmmaker, Knicks fan
Jim Lovell: Apollo 13 astronaut
Amory Lovins: Physicist, energy activist
Barack Obama: President, statesman, lawyer
Dolly Parton: Artist, humanitarian
Mitt Romney: Senator, impeachment juror
Bernie Sanders: Democratic Socialist leader
MacKenzie Scott: Philanthropist, prize-winning novelist
Steven Spielberg: Director, writer, entertainer
Bruce Springsteen: Singer, songwriter, activist
Taylor Swift: Musician, songwriter, icon
Tim Walz: Honorable political messenger
Elizabeth Warren: Fighting political foes
Janet Yellen: Economist, Treasury secretary
Eliminated
Voting for our second round will end at noon EST on Fri. June 20.
My vote is again for José Andrés. I’m pretty well-read, and if I’ve never heard of somebody before, there’s no way I’d consider him or her the GLA.
I’ll vote again for Craig Ferguson.
Yeah, hard to get my head around him being on this list, Craig Ferguson 'tis for me as well.
Craig Ferguson.
I know nowt of the guy but from a listing of greatest achievers, that’s a rather thin resume. He will have to go some time, might as well be early.
I mean, the guy’s organization has provided hundreds of millions of meals in crisis areas (Puerto Rico, Ukraine, Gaza, etc.), so he might be worth some consideration in these times…
When they install him as Supremo of USAID we’ll be off to the races.
I still say Taylor Swift. Musician, songwriter, and icon? Seriously?? How many of those have we had over the past three decades?
To quote a line from a song by another person who was hailed as a musician and icon, “She works hard for the money”.
That’s what she’s all about. No more, no less.
And to quote another so-called iconic group – “Bye-bye-bye!”
-“BB”-
Craig Ferguson. While I’d love to rate a humorist, I don’t think we have someone of the universal appeal of Mark Twain or Johnny Carson, and I think the “greatest living American” should have that kind of universal appeal, if not necessarily universal fame.
My defense of Taylor Swift in this game will wait until later.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
All other basketball players can go with him.
Craig Ferguson, easily.
Jose Andres isn’t the greatest, but he’s probably in the upper half of this list.. Just continuing his humanitarian work and he’s a totally reasonable Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Middle of the pack talk show host vs “fed millions in war zones?”
Even just in the field of “artists and entertainers” Craig Ferguson is at the bottom of this list.
OK, voting out Craig Ferguson!
And if names are being eliminated one at a time, this game will go on for months, which feels like a long time! Unless that’s a feature planned by @Elendil_s_Heir, and not a bug?
There are currently 30 nominees left on the list. If one is eliminated every two days, then it will take 60 days to determine the winner. So, two months.
Is that the plan, @Elendil_s_Heir?
Indeed it is. But if there is a consensus to winnow the field more quickly, I’m willing to do so.
Just ran across this thread. I’m voting for Mitt Romney this round. Reasons why would be better debated in P&E, but it comes down to his being on the wrong side of things, and on top of that failing at what he tried to do.
P&E is all well and good, but feel free to write at greater length here.
Upon further consideration, I’m going to stick with my initial reasons. Unlike many of the other people on the list, he failed in both his 2012 run for POTUS, and also failed in his attempts at opposing Trump. Since he has a much stronger record of failure than most of the others on the list, I’ll stick with my vote for him.
Again for Jose Andres.